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THE GIRL I LOVED 



The 
Girl I Loved 

By 
Tames Whitcomb Riley 



Drawings by i^ 

Howard Chandler Christy 



Decorations by Margaret Armstrong 



The Bobbs-Merrill Company 
Publishers 



C G P \ I - 



Copyright 

1910 

James Whitcomb 

Riley 



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©CI.A271397 



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TO 
JOHN J. CURTIS 



THE GIRL I LOVED 



IT'S a mystery to see me — 
A man. o' fifty-four, 
Who's lived a cross old bachelo^ 
Fer thirty year' and more — 
A-lookin' glad and smilinM 
And they's none o' you can say 
That you can guess the reason 
Why I feel so good. to-day! 









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None o' j-ou can say 

That you can guess the reason 

Why I feel so good to-day ! 



I must tell you all about it! 

But I'll have to deviate 

A little, in beginnin', 

So's to set the matter straight 

As to how it comies to happen 

That I never took a wife — 

Kind o' "crawfish" from the Present 

To the Springtime of my life! 

I wuz brought. up in the country: 
Of a family of five- 
Three brothers and a sister — 
I'm the only one alive, — 





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I was brought up in the country 



Fer they all died little babies; 

And 'tuz one o' Mother's ways. 

You know, to want a daughter; 

So she took a girl to raise. 

The sweetest little thing she wuz. 

With rosy cheeks, and fat — 

We wuz little chunks o' shavers then 

About as high as that! — 



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We wuz little chunks o' shavers then 
About as hig-h as that! 



But someway we sort o' suited-likel 

And Mother she'd declare 

She never laid her eyes on 

A more lovin' pair 

Than we wuz! So we growed up 

Side by side fer thirteen year', 

And every hour of it 

She growed to me more dear! — 

W'y, even Father's dyin'. 

As he did, I do believe 

Wuzn't more aiFectin' to me 

Than it wuz to see her grieve! 




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And ever}' hour of it 

She growed to me more dear! 



I wuz then a lad o' twenty; 

And I felt a 'flash o' pride 

In thinkin' all depended 

On me now to pervide 

Fer Mother and fer Mary; 

And I went about the place 

With sleeves rolled up — and workin'. 

With a mighty smilin' face 

YcT sumpin else' wuz workin'! 

But not a word I said 

Of a certain sort o' notion 

That wuz runnin' through my head, — 



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Fer sumpin' else wuz workin' ! 




"Someday I'd maybe marry, 
And a brother s love wuz one 
Thing — a lover s wuz another!" 
Wuz the way the notion run! 

I remember onc't in harvest, 
When the "cradle-in' " wuz done- 
When the harvest of my summers 
Mounted up to twenty-one — 
I wuz ridin' home with Mary 
At the closin' o' the day — 
A-chawin' straws and thinkin'. 
In a lover's lazy way! 




I remember onc't in harvest 



And Mary's cheeks wuz burnin' 
Like the sunset down the lane: 
I noticed she wuz thinkin', too, 
And ast her to explain. 
Well — when she turned and kissed Ti\^, 
With her arms around 7ne — law! 
I'd a bigger load o' heaven 
Than I had a load o' straw! 





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I noticed she wuz thinkin', too, 
And ast her to explain 




I don't p'tend to learnin', 

But I'll tell you what's a fac', 

They's a mighty truthful sayin' 

Somers in a' almanack — 

Er somers — 'bout "puore happiness" — 

Perhaps some folks '11 laugh 

At the idy — "only lastin' 

Jest two seconds and a half." — 

But it's jest as true as preachin' ! — 

Fer that wuz a sister sV\.%^, 

And a sister's lovin' confidence 

A-tellin' to me this: — 



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I don't p'tcnd to learnin' 



^^She wuz happy, be in' promised 

To the son o' Farmer Brown." — 

And my feelin's struck a pardnership 

With sunset and went down! 

I don't know how I acted — 

I don't know what I said, 

Fer my heart seemed jest a-turnin' 

To an ice-cold lump o' lead; 

And the hosses kindo' glimmered 

Before me in the road, 

And the lines fell from my lingers — 

And that wuz all I knowed — 



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She wuz happ_v, bein' promised 
To the son o' Farmer Brown 



Fer — well, I don't know how long! — 

They's a dim rememberence 

Of a sound o' snortin' bosses. 

And a stake-and-ridered fence 

A-whizzin' past, and wbeat-sheaves 

A-dancin' in tbe air. 

And Mary screamin' '* Murder!" 

And a-runnin' up to wbere 

/ wuz layin' by the roadside, 

And the wagon upside down 

A-leanin' on the gate-post, 

With the wheels a-whirlin' roun'l 



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And Mary screamin' "Murdei 



And I tried to raise and meet her, 
But I couldn't, with a vague 
Sorto' notion comin' to me 
That I had a broken leg. 

Well, the women nussed me 

through it; 
But many a time I'd sigh 
As I'd keep a-gittin' better 
Instid o' goin' to die, 




Well, the women missed me throut2:h it 



And wonder what wuz left me 
Worth livin' fer below, 
When the girl I loved wuz married 
To another^ don't you know! 

And my thoughts wuz as rebellious 
As the folks wuz good and kind 
When Brown and Mary married — 
Railly must a -been my mind 
Wuz kindo' out o' kilter! — 
Fer I hated Brown, you see, 
Worse'n pizen — and the feller 
Whittled crutches out fer me- — 



Fer I hated Brown, you see. 
Worse'n pizen — and the feller 
Whittled crutches out fer me 




And done a thousand little ac's 
O' kindness and respec' — 
And me a-wishin' all the time 
That I could break his neck! 
My relief wuz like a mourner's 
When the funeral is done 
When they moved to Illinois 
In the fall o' Forty-one. 

Then I went to work in airnest— 
I had nothin' much in view 
But to drownd out rickollections- 
And it kep' me busy, too! 



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I had nothin' much in view 

Rut to drownd out rickollections 




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But I slowly thrived and prospered, 

Tel Mother used to say 

She expected yit to see me 

A wealthy man some day. 

Then I'd think how little riches wuz, 

Compared to happiness — 

And who'd be left to use it 

When I died I couldn't guess! 

But I've still kep' speculatin' 

And a-gainin' year by year, 

Tel I'm pay in' half the taxes 

In the county, mighty near! 







Tel I'm pa_vin' half the taxes 
In the county, mighty near 



Well! — a year ago er better, 
A letter comes to hand 
Astin' how I'd like to dicker 
Fer some Illinois land! 
**The feller that had owned it," 
It went ahead to state, 
''Had jest deceased, insolvent, 
Leavin' chance to speculate," 







The feller that had owned it 



And then it closed by sayin' 
That I'd ''better come and see."- 
I'd never been West, anyhow — 
A' most too wild fer me^ 
I'd alius had a notion; 
But a lawyer here in town 
Said I'd find myself mistakened 
When I come to look aroun'. 
So I bids good-bye to Mother, 
And I jumps aboard the train, 
A-thinkin' what I'd bring her 
When I come back home again- 




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I'd never been West, anj-how- 
A'most too wild fer me 



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And ef she'd had an idy 
What the present wuz to be, 
I think it's more'n Hkely 
She'd a-went along with me! 

Cars is awful tejus ridin', 
Fer all they go so fast! 
But finally they called out 
My stoppin' -place at last: 
And that night, at the tavern, 
I dreamp' / wuz a train 
O' cars, and skeered at sompin', 
Runnin' down a country lane! 



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Cars is awful tejus ridin' 
Fer all they go so fast! 



Well, in the morning airly — 
After huntin' up the man — 
The lawyer who wuz wantin' 
To swop the piece o' land — 
We started fer the country; 
And I ast the history 
Of the farm- — its former owner — 
And so-forth, etcetery! — 



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Well, in the morn in' airl}^- 
After huntin' up the man 



And — well — it wuz interestin — 
I su'prised him, I suppose. 
By the loud and frequent manner 
In which I blowed my nose! — 
But his su' prise wuz greater, 
And it made him wonder more. 
When I kissed and hugged the widder 
When she met us at the door! — 
// wuz Mary: they's a feelin' 
A-hidin' down in here — 
Of course I can't explain it, 
Ner ever make it clear. — 




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It wuz Marv 



It wuz with us in that meetin', 
I don't wa;nt you to fergit! 
And it makes me kind o' nervou'^ 
When I think about it yit! 

I bought that farm, and deeded it, 
Afore I left the town. 
With ** title clear to mansions 
In the skies," to Mary Brown! 
And fu'thermore, I took her 
And the childern — fer, you see. 
They'd never seed their Grandma- 
And I fetched 'em home with me= 




^ The3''d never seed their Grandma- 
And I fetched 'em home with me 



So now you've got an idy 

Why a man o' fifty-four. 

Who 's Uved a cross old bachelor 

Fer thirty year' and more, 

Is a-lookin' glad and smilin' ! — 

And I've jest come in to town 

To git a pair o' license 

Fer to ma7'ry Mary Brown. 




To git a pair o' license 
Fer to marrv Alarv Brown 



